Thursday, December 29, 2016

Labelled an international pariah only months ago by Boris Johnson, and warned he would be stuck in a Syrian quagmire by a patronising Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin ends 2016 if not as the undisputed victor, then at least as the man at the centre of decision making.

It is Moscow and not Washington that is calling the shots in the Middle East.

Reeling from its cold war defeat and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet empire, Moscow was unable to save Yugoslavia from what it termed western aggression.

But in the case of Syria, it can claim it has recovered its self-respect. In the process, it has built a brutal reputation for sticking by its friends, understanding the dynamics of the region better than America, and knowing how to use military power to forge diplomatic alliances.

The US, by contrast, ends 2016 out in the cold, holding a postmortem into the failure of its peace drive with Israel.

That's the difference a leader who puts interests of his nation first versus one who wants to transform his nation into something it is not can make.

The real news if it's not fake is the LAT reporting that the Arabs in the West Bank are mulling over the single state solution. Oh my will Obama have fun with announcing his support for a multicultural Israel

@17 Russian embassy tweets great LAME duck image in response to 0bama kicking 35 intel agents / diplomatic types out of US. If this move was supposed to kick up dust with the Russians, it was yet another 0bama FAIL.

This tweet shows the Russians are better at using Twatter than Team 0bama. Let that sink in for a while.

SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so. So teenage girls (and boys) in California will soon be free to have sex in exchange for money without fear of arrest or prosecution.

OK, if the end result is a pro-Russian Syria... that's what already existed before the civil war broke out. Yay. If this is a "Russian victory" it is a pretty weaksauce one. At best they retained a fairly weak ally that was even more weakened by the strife.

Besides which, we already knew Washington was not calling the shots in the Middle East: see Iraq, collapse into chaos of, Iran, increasing power of, Saudi Arabia, eviction of US from bases in, etc.

The first typo was "mono polar" If Bath House Barry the Kenyan manages to pull off a Two State solution in Paris on Jan 15 then he might yet be the most Armageddon lame duck in all history.

There's a theory that Armageddon will be an accident no-one including it's co-sponsors could see coming.

Bath House Barry might yet bring down the curtains and set fire to the theatre. Drop that Mike Barry. History might end here after all.

God will get a throne in Jerusalem to one and most's embarrassed amazement. That trains comin' in spite of the Tea Party on the tracks, the Neocons in the House, the fools at the UN, the antiChrists of Judaism, Diversity or Nirvana

Dexter wrote:OK, if the end result is a pro-Russian Syria... that's what already existed before the civil war broke out. Yay. If this is a "Russian victory" it is a pretty weaksauce one.They will have completely stymied the US in an announced and aggressively pursued policy of regime change in Syria. When they have re-established peace and order, they will have established themselves as the only trustworthy partner for secular regimes in the Middle East.It will also likely redound to their benefit in other conflicts, particularly in Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

Obama administration's curent actions seem to be designed to sabotage everything and poison the well before handing other to Trump.Usually during the handover period Governments don't do much of note or controversy, but Obama is setting some interesting precedents.

SB 1322 bars law enforcement from arresting sex workers who are under the age of 18 for soliciting or engaging in prostitution, or loitering with the intent to do so. So teenage girls (and boys) in California will soon be free to have sex in exchange for money without fear of arrest or prosecution."

The state can still arrest and prosecute the person or persons buying sex from minors and they will. This might even make it easier to get the prostitutes to testify since they know they won't be prosecuted. I'm not saying it's a good law. I haven't read the statute yet and I'm not a lawyer but this doesn't necessarily mean that California is now a pedo playground.

On the other hand, this may be the Demoncrats first step in their plan to legalize adult/child sex.

This tweet shows the Russians are better at using Twatter than Team 0bama. Let that sink in for a while.Putin's a leader, that shines through. Personal skills would have to be part of the package that got him to the top of the KGB. Contrast that to a guy who reads off the TelePrompTer and waits for the lapdog media to tell him how wonderful he was. It's like Nov 8th all over again.

What this shows is the difference between the Russian leaders who look at the world and the Middle East how it is and who enage in Realpolitik versus the last two U.S. administration who looked at the world in general and the Middle East in particular through an ideological mindset.

The Bush administration and the neocons believed that they could turn Iraq and then the entire Middle East into liberal democracies. Thus it was easy and obvious to conclude that the Iraw war would be a strategic failure before it even started.

In 2011, the Obama administration, the liberal interventionists led by Clinton, Powers and Rice, the neocons, the mainstream media and most of Western European leaders all believed that the Arab spring would lead to liberal democracies in the Arab world. They really thought at these young people using facebook and twitter on their smartphones would transform the entire region.

Even now you can read articles in the mainstream media about these "heroic moderate activists and rebels" in Syria who would have created a better, a humane, a liberal and a democratic Syria if not for those evil, evil Russians.

The brutal truth is that such liberal activists are a tiny minority in all Arab countries (if they exist at all). Had the Western leaders succeed with the removal of Assad in 2012 or 2013, then the Islamic State would have proclaimed their caliphate in Damascus instead of Mosul in 2014.

Its also the difference between a leader who has his hands tied behind his back by bribed politicians and republican cuckolds cucking for Master Zion, and someone who expelled (((Khordovsky))) and Abramovich and co for plotting a coup. The difference is the US had a coup years ago with Nixon.

@42 "Had the Western leaders succeed with the removal of Assad in 2012 or 2013, then the Islamic State would have proclaimed their caliphate in Damascus instead of Mosul in 2014."

What I don't get is: are there no realists IN Israel!? They keep pointing their retarded big brother (that would be "us") at their neighbors and saying 'he's mean and evil; go beat him up.' And "we" shamble off and do so.

Can they possibly believe that destabilizing the entire middle east will allow them to take it over or be safer? (Granted: NONE of these "insurgents" and civil war fighters and DAIS/ISIS/ISIL murderers are ever attacking israel or jews. Wonder why THAT is...) But, as "we" destroy one sort-of country after another, how do they intend carry on?

I'm not saying it's a good law. I haven't read the statute yet and I'm not a lawyer but this doesn't necessarily mean that California is now a pedo playground.

This is CA we are talking about, when was the last time a good law came from there? I don't think any prosecutor seriously threatens underage hookers, except to get them to turn on their pimps. You know Hollywood is in California right? There were people who said Neverland ranch was not a pedo playground.

Can they possibly believe that destabilizing the entire middle east will allow them to take it over or be safer?

Good thing there is (((no one))) unscrupulous enough to sell arms to both sides.

@41 "I feel bad for the Kurds. Don't they deserve a state of their own?"

Dexter wrote:OK, if the end result is a pro-Russian Syria... that's what already existed before the civil war broke out. Yay. If this is a "Russian victory" it is a pretty weaksauce one. At best they retained a fairly weak ally that was even more weakened by the strife.Made Barry and the neocons look like fools, showed that they (or their electorate at least) are not quite ready to get thousands of US soldiers killed in any more pointless foreign wars. That gave them the confidence to take Crimea, which matters a lot strategically and to Russian prestige.

Moreover, Putin's Russia proved that it'll stick by its friends even when it hurts. That's important, because it's a pretty massive departure from the Russia of Yeltson, the Soviet Union and even to some extent the czars. Still probably not smart to think of Russia as caring for anyone in the world except for Russia (and maybe fellow Orthodox Slavs), but now we know that Russia's at least less likely to stab you in the back than America is.

Stephen wrote:Obama administration's curent actions seem to be designed to sabotage everything and poison the well before handing other to Trump.Usually during the handover period Governments don't do much of note or controversy, but Obama is setting some interesting precedents.

Yes, but when a Repuke administration is in place, there is an actual opposition party in Congress, as opposed the the Gay Old Pedobears, led by fearless souls like Miss Lindsay Graham, Paul Ryan and the Zombie-Incitatus from Sun City AZ, Juan 'Batshit' McAmnesty. When Bathhouse Barry sez 'jump' their only response is "how high, massah?"

Of course there are realists in Israel. One of the most prominent is Martin van Creveld who happens to be a Castalia House author.

Many Israelis regard Iran and Hezbollah as their most dangerous enemy. They are not worried about ISIS, AQ or other Islamist fighers in Syria.John Dolan/Warnerd seems to think that Israel never quite got over their loss to Hezbollah in 2006. Given how unspeakably-incompetent Sunni fighters tend to be, it's a fair bet that they're far more worried by Shi'ites and Alawites. Worth noting that Sadr's Shia and their Iranian-supplied RPG-29's were among the biggest killers of US troops in Iraq.

"That ancient MiG wasn’t downed because it was a threat to Israel, or because it was over the line. It was downed as a gesture. Bibi and his Likud allies are sulking, because the way they see it, we’re bombing the wrong Syrians. The Israeli elite has always wanted the US to intervene in the Syrian Civil War—but not against the Sunni jihadists, as we’re doing now. They want American planes and drones to obliterate the other side--the Alawites’ Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its Hezbollah allies."

It's funny because when they say international pariah what they really mean is that Europe, North America, the Anglo-pacific and to a lesser extent close international allies...problem being is not only is that in no way the entirety of the globe but why should Russia care about the scorn of nations like Germany that are committing civilizational suicide?

Such a fanboy. I don't think the story you are getting on Syria is at all accurate. What Obama and the media is putting out, what ours and Russia's are really doing there, who is what and when, are all different things.

Me? Pull out of Syria (US), completely. Actually, assist Assad in keeping power. He is well weakened and understands what is at stake. He'll... do his job and keep his nose clean. Put troops back in Iraq, permanently. Two or three various bases, and several outposts (pulled from Europe). Keep Russia out of the former holdings, arm up the former holdings and Easter Bloc nations, while retreating. Let them fight, but fight fair.

Russia, Putin, is not our friend, ally, or anything else but convenience to be played, if we had someone who could play cards at the table. I think Trump, or his choices, can manage this. They don't have to be a direct enemy, but Russia can't be a friend to Christians, freedom, even nationalism (save the phony kind) so long as Putin holds the reins. He is merely a dictator thug. Is that your dream? Or have you sold out for his media potency. He seems to have a lot of influence in your fields of interest. No, I don't trust you.

@56 "[Putin] is merely a dictator thug."That's your opinion, not a fact. He professes Christianity and Russian nationalism. The gay mulatto doesn't profess either.Your idea of putting troops back in Iraq (permanently, at that!) and "keeping Russia out of the former holdings is suicidal and stupid.

Doom wrote:They don't have to be a direct enemy, but Russia can't be a friend to Christians, freedom, even nationalism (save the phony kind) so long as Putin holds the reins. He is merely a dictator thug. Is that your dream? One single shred of evidence for these assertions, please? We know you hate hate HATE Putin, but contact with reality is always well-advised.By all appearances, your assertions are merely the expression of your hatred. Can you tell us why, on any level, Putin cannot be a Christian, or a Nationalist? Or is it merely your hatred? Why do yo hate Putin? Dare you answer?

Or have you sold out for his media potency. He seems to have a lot of influence in your fields of interest. No, I don't trust you.Aaaaand you go off the rails. You might have had an argument, now, you're just standing in the middle of the train station, naked, cutting yourself and screaming at the aliens.

Regardless of their cultural predilections, Kurdistan should be recognized as a State by the US in order to punish Erdogan and squelch any thoughts Turkey has of re-establishing a caliphate. It would also simultaneously give Iran and Syria something new to worry about, all without much effort by the US. The Kurds can do all the work by themselves, they've been eager for their own state and have already got the beginnings of one in Iraq.

Putin is a despot. There is no evidence that he is against his own people, however, either in his own view or theirs.

He is pretty much acting the part of a 19th century monarch. Remember that the 19th century monarchy-with-parliament nations were all alt-right, with free speech, property rights, and nationalism all not only protected but more so than today; nationals were freer then than they are under modern "liberal" democracies.